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Day One: On the evening of Wednesday August 5 1970, DCI Kolbjørn “K2” Kristiansen is witness to adramatic episode on an underground station. A young woman runs after the train as though her lifedepended on it, but the door closes in her face. Through the window K2 catches sight of the woman'sterrified face as the train pulls out. About an hour later he sees the woman again: this time she’slying dead on the tracks after being run over by the next train. She is identified as 25 year old MarieMorgenstierne, who belongs to sectarian group of radical left wingers. She was engaged to thegroup's charismatic leader, Falko Reinhardt, who disappeared in mysterious circumstance onestormy night in Valdres in the summer of 1968.Day Two: K2 starts his day by calling Patricia, who at once expresses an interest in the case. Inresponse to the question whether Marie Morgenstierne was pushed, jumped or fell onto the tracksPatricia says “No - she was shot” – a fact which the pathologist is later able to confirm. K2 checks thearchived material on Falko Reinhardt's disappearance. Reinhardt disappeared during a walkingholiday in the Valdres mountains with his fiancée and other members of the radical left-wing group.At two o'clock in the morning on a stormy night his fiancée reported him missing – from a bedroomin the camping hut with a window that was locked from the inside.At the time of his disappearance, Falko Reinhardt was writing a post-graduate thesis in history on aNazi network active during the Second World War. Shortly before, he had confided in his supervisorJohannes Heftye, a well-known communist professor, that he had come across evidence indicatingthat the network was still active. Suspicions centred on a former member of the fascist NationalUnity Party, an elderly Valdres farmer named Henry Alfred Lien, named in a draft of the thesis,whose farm lay just a few hundred metres away from the camping hut.K2 gets a call from another member of the radical political group, a psychologist named Trond Ibsen.He reveals that Marie Morgenstierne was returning from a group meeting at Smestad when she wasmurdered. After Falko's death there had been a minor split in the group when the youngest member,Miriam Filtvedt Bentsen, left in protest and joined the ranks of the more moderate and democratic3

admit the truth by August 1, or else . . . ” The Caretaker has heard the footsteps of an unidentifiedman on the stairs several times in the course of the summer although he has never actually seen thisperson. The observation might indicate that Falko has returned– or that his fiancée has a new man inher life. K2 next goes to see Falko's supervisor, Johannes Heftye. His impression was that Falko wasupset and feared for his own safety at their last meeting before his disappearance, and he hints atthe possibility of threats from both left and right wing extremists. K2 reads through the draft thesisand discovers there that the Valdres farmer Henry Alfred Lien is indeed mentioned, although only ina minor role. The two main surviving members of the network are the architect Frans Heidenbergand the company director Christian Magnus Eggen. Frans Heidenberg seems a cultivated andcourteous man. He has no alibi for Marie Morgenstierne's death, but denies knowing anything aboutit and claims never to have met her. Christian Magnus Eggen is considerably less social and a muchmore hot-headed type. He denies that the Jews were ever persecuted, and claims that he is beingharassed for his political views. He doesn't have an alibi either, but denies any knowledge of MarieMorgenstierne's death. Back at his office K2 receives a brief and surprising piece of news from thepathologist: at the time of her death Marie Morgenstierne was four or five weeks pregnant.Again K2 concludes the day at Patricia's. She puts forward a theory that Falko may have hidden in asecret cellar or hiding place in the bedroom, and did not in fact leave the camping hut until after theothers had gone out. It looks increasingly like Falko disappeared because he was close to making animportant discovery and feared for his own safety. On his way out K2 wonders whether Patricia'sfather, Professor Ragnar Sverre Borchmann, is annoyed with him, since he seems to be avoiding him.Day Four: K2 enjoys a pleasant drive up to Valdres in the company of Miriam Filtvedt Bentsen. Afterarriving at the camping hut K2 is able to confirm that the window is too small for anyone to haveclimbed out of. But beneath the bed he finds some loose planks in the floor hiding a space in which aperson could have hidden.5

Henry Alfred Lien turns out to be a ruggedly built and serious-minded man of about 70 . Again hedenies having anything to do with Falko's death or with being a member of any Nazi network.Confronted with the evidence of his own past, Lien claims never to have been an ideologicallycommitted Nazi. He says the only reason he joined the National Unity Party was so that he benefit hisown family - and that they later found it difficult to forgive him.Back in Oslo once more K2 demands an interview with the legendary chief of the security services,the chain-smoking Asle Bryne. Bryne is less than forthcoming. While admitting that Falko's groupwere being watched he refuses to go into detail. He categorically denies that the security serviceshave anything to do with Falko's disappearance or the death of his girlfriend. He does, however, offerto lend K2 a recording of the meeting Marie Morgenstierne attended on the evening of her death. K2listens to the tape with Patricia. The first thing she notices is that Marie Morgenstierne lies when shesays, at the end of the meeting, that she has plenty of time to catch her train and so declines theoffer of a lift in Trond Ibsen's car. Patricia also notes a subdued but evident tension between TrondIbsen and Anders Pettersen, in which Marie Morgenstierne appears to side with the latter. It isKristine Larsen rather than Marie Morgenstierne who seems most preoccupied with Falko and thehope that he might soon return.K2 goes to interview Kristine Larsen and arrives as she is leaving her house. He calls out “Kristine!” –at which she takes to her heels in panic and runs. K2 instinctively feels that she is the killer, runs afterher and following a wild chase catches up with her. In her interrogation she confirms that she wasFalko Reinhardt's lover in the weeks before his disappearance, and that her guilty conscience inregard to her friend Marie Morgenstierne had gradually given way to the suspicion that Marie mighthave had something to do with the disappearance. Kristine Larsen confesses that she wasresponsible for the threatening note found under Marie Morgenstierne's pillow. She also admits thatit was she who followed her on the night of the murder and called out “Marie”. However she denieshaving anything to do with the murder, and claims that she ran away in fear because she had herself6

een living in fear of an unknown killer. Kristine Larsen also says that the other people she saw in thestreet that evening included an elderly man with a stick, a blind woman with a guide dog, and a manbehind her whom she only saw indistinctly. Marie Morgenstierne cast a quick glance over hershoulder before she started running, and it is Kristine Larsen's belief that it was the sight of her thatcaused her to run. But then she had seen a man standing in a side-street, a man whom sherecognised as the vanished Falko. K2 finds this radically revised story of hers less than convincing andarrests her.Day Five: Searching Kristine Larsen's home K2 finds two photographs in an envelope: one showsFalko with his arms around Kristine; the other is a group picture from which the image of MarieMorgenstierne has been removed.K2 calls Professor Johannes Heftye. Deeply uneasy, he now reveals that at his 65th birthday party afew days prior to Falko Reinhardt's disappearance, he had mentioned the content of Reinhardt'sthesis to his nephew, Trond Ibsen, on the assumption that Ibsen was already aware of it. At aboutthe same time Trond Ibsen turns up at the police station claiming that Kristine Larsen's arrest must allbe a misunderstanding – she is a pacifist and incapable of taking the life of any living creature. Ibsenadmits hearing from his uncle about the discoveries mentioned in Falko's thesis, but denies havingdiscussed them with either Falko or anyone else for that matter. K2 studies the report of the taperecording,including the finding of a fingerprint belonging to one of Falko’s group. He drives over tolunch with Patricia, who correctly predicts that the fingerprint on the tape is that of MarieMorgenstierne herself. She suggest that K2 pay another visit to security chief Bryne and demand tosee the agent responsible for setting up the recording.Patricia is now convinced that Falko was at the scene of the shooting and is now somewhere outthere in Oslo. Again she voices her deep unease at what all this means, and why Falko still hasn'trevealed himself, despite the fact that his fiancée is now dead and his lover under arrest. Patricia is7

afraid that some great disaster is brewing, but is frustrated at not being able to find out where, whois involved, and what is going to happen.K2 confronts Anders Pettersen, who is also strongly affected by news of the arrest of Kristine Larsen.Pettersen seems genuinely shocked to hear of Marie Morgenstierne's pregnancy. Upon hearing thenews he claims that Trond Ibsen has a complex about women, and that he has made approaches toall female members of the group. Pettersen never believed that Ibsen got anywhere with MarieMorgenstierne, but nothing can be ruled out.K2 then goes to a meeting with the head of security, Asle Bryne, who tells him that MarieMorgenstierne was not recruited by the service but volunteered to work with them shortly afterFalko's disappearance, because she suspected that another member of the group had eitherabducted or killed him. No answer to this particular question was ever found. Patricia again urges K2to demand an immediate interview with the security service's agent in the field, who is obviouslybeing shielded because he was in Valdres on the night Falko disappeared. She also feels that thereare a suspiciously large number of odd coincidences is involved. Patricia asks what K2 was doing atSmestad that evening – and reacts furiously when he tells her that he had been sent to cover aroutine matter involving a hotel guest who was acting suspiciously. Patricia asserts that this is FalkoReinhardt. She urges K2 to get over there at once.K2 drives to the hotel and catches a glimpse of Falko Reinhardt as he jumps down from a balcony andruns off. A note left behind in his hotel room reads: “1008: KK Warn about the attack and that FL isthe killer”. There is also a photograph taken in a restaurant and dated 07.06.1970 and showing FransHeidenberg, Christian Magnus Eggen and Henry Alfred Lien – along with a fourth man in a suitwhose face is obscured. . .Patricia's conclusion is that “1008” is Falko's code for August 10 and that “KK” is an abbreviation forKolbjørn Kristiansen, whom he obviously intends to get in touch with. She is unsure what the letters“FL” might refer to, and precisely what it is that is about to happen. Patricia introduces the concept8

of a 'catalyst killing', meaning a killing in which the death of the victim is not the central aim of theact, which is really to speed up a chain of events and lead to something bigger.Back home again K2 receives a telephone call late in the evening from Falko Reinhardt himself. Falkoreveals that someone is planning an attack that will shake the whole country, but he can confirm thatit won't take place the following day. He asks K2 to meet him below the overhang in Valdres at sixo'clock tomorrow evening.Day Six : K2 has a meeting with the Prime Minister , Peder Borgen. The following day Borgen is dueto lead a seminar at three o'clock and declare a National Park open at six. Apart from that, he says,he has no more arrangements for the rest of that week. K2 heads off to the Peoples Theatrebuildings to meet the leader of the Labour Party, Trond Bratten and his wife Ragna Bratten. TrondBratten is due to perform his first public function for some time after a long absence due to illness atfour thirty the following day in Frogner Place.K2 has lunch with Asle Bryne and finally meets the mysterious agent, whose name turns out to beStian Fredriksen. Fredriksen reveals that he followed Falko Reinhardt on the day prior to hisdisappearance, when he left the camping hut for several hours and made his way to Henry AlfredLien's farm to talk to him. Later on, Stian Fredriksen was Marie Morgenstierne's contact, but theirrelationship was never close.K2 drives alone to Valdres, doesn't have time to call in at Lien's farm before the meeting, but is thereat the foot of the overhang at ten to six. As he stands waiting he sees someone fall from theoverhang. It turns out to be Falko Reinhardt. With his dying breath he whispers “The window. Watchthe window!” K2 then finds the car Falko Reinhardt borrowed from his parents parked outside Lien'shouse – and Lien himself lying shot dead next to a table laid for two. Searching Lien's house K2 comesacross a diary in which the entries stop at the end of April 1970. The following page has been tornout . Once the local sheriff has arrived K2 searches the ground between Lien's farm, the camping hut,and the overhang. Close to a large rock he finds a sheet of paper with “1108 Heftye 66” written on it9

in Reinhardt's handwriting . At once K2 thinks of Professor Heftye, who is, after all, about 66 yearsold. But he can't make any more sense of it . He drives back to Oslo and visits Patricia. Patricia saysthat Lien was obviously Reinhardt's source inside the Nazi network, and helped him plan and executehis theatrical disappearance. Two years later both have now been shot by a third person, who first ofall followed Falko and then pushed him the last few metres over the overhang. This person is almostcertainly the mysterious fourth man in the photograph. Patricia also wonders what happened to themissing page from Lien's diary – did Falko take it, or was it the killer?Day Seven: K2 rings Marie Morgenstierne's father Martin at the bank to give him an update. He istold, however, that Martin is off sick, for the first time in decades. Nor does he answer his homephone. K2 gets a call from the sheriff in Valdres to tell him that Falko's jacket has been found andsent by express messenger to Oslo. A torn-off sheet of paper with some enigmatic handwritten noteson it was also found. Falko Reinhardt's jacket arrives from Valdres. In one pocket is a page fromLien's diary with the following short notes written on it:“May 17 1970: Meeting A, B and D. A and D strongly in favour of going ahead, B hesitant.June 7 1970: Second meeting A, B and D. A and D almost aggressively insistent. B wavering butremains sceptical, – fears the consequences for the surviving relatives…August 8 1970: Telephone from A. Spoken to D and B, and reports that B is now ready to go!Patricia suddenly realises that the letters might stand for professions, with A indicating the architectHeidenberg and D the company director Eggen. She wonders, in that case, what B stands for – andthen lets out a loud shriek. She sits there, stunned, and asks K2 what time it is? He says it's fourtwenty five. Patricia urges him to run as fast as he can to Frogner Place – where the killer in thewindow of 66 Thomas Heftyes will be preparing to shoot the leader of the Labour Party TrondBratten when he steps forward to deliver his speech at four thirty.10

The killer waits in a fifth floor window, rifle in hand, for Bratten to begin his speech. There is adouble race against time now as K2 tries to force open the door to the room at the same time asMiriam down in Frogner Place attempts to persuade Bratten not to make his appearance on thestage. As the door finally bursts open K2 and the reader simultaneously learn the identity of the killer– it’s Martin Morgenstierne. He gets off a shot just as K2 throws himself over him. K2 quicklyoverpowers the older man , but through the window he sees a terrible sight: Trond Bratten isstanding unharmed behind his wife , but Miriam Filtvedt Bentsen lies bleeding on the ground besidethem.Christian Magnus Eggen and Frans Heidenberg are arrested. Now that their plan to attack the LabourParty and democracy in Norway has been foiled they, along with Martin Morgenstierne, make a fullconfession. That “B” in Lien's notes stood for "Bank Manager"”, and the “FL” in Falko Reinhardt'snotes for "Father-in-Law”. Martin Morgenstierne killed both Falko Reinhardt and Henry Alfred Lienthe previous day. However, the Nazis deny any involvement in Marie Morgenstierne's death, andthere is nothing to connect them to it in any way.Day Eight: K2 is woken on the morning of August 12 1970 by the ringing of the telephone. It's thesenior registrar calling from Ullevål Hospital, to report that the crisis has passed. Miriam's ability towrite may be affected, but apart from that she is going to be fine. K2 is overjoyed at the good news,and drives over to see Anders Pettersen. Pettersen seems less brash now. He admits that he wasMarie Morgenstierne's lover during the last months of her life, and that he was at the scene of thecrime because he had arranged to see her. He maintains that he had no idea she was pregnant untilK2 told him - and denies having anything to do with her murder. K2 has a lunch date with Patricia,who now seems almost depressed. She reveals that the killer was the old man with the stick - aliasFalko's father, Arno Reinhardt. Marie Morgenstierne knew quite well that he had no need of a stick.She had seen him showing off this shooting stick with its built-in pistol, using it to illustrate stories ofhow he had used it on his enemies during the Spanish Civil War... She realised at once she was in11

danger, and set off running for her life when she saw him carrying it as he followed her onto theplatform at Smestad. For Patricia, K2's triumph is framed by tragedies involving parents and childrenand she asks to be released from the case. K2 urges her to remain vigilant and available for just a fewmore hours.He goes to see Falko's parents, who quietly confess their guilt and their intention to stand by eachother. If they had not taken the law into their own hands in seeking revenge against their son'sfiancé, then Falk would probably still be alive. When K2 points this out to them they both breakdown.K2 returns to Patricia and thanks her for her assistance. Despite the successful resolution of the caseshe appears sad and almost resigned. To begin with no mention is made of Miriam's fate, and whenK2 eventually tells her that Miriam is going to live Patricia's only response is brief and cold: 'Oh,really?' K2 is furious with Patricia. He accuses her of being jealous, and of lacking empathy withMiriam. He storms off, leaving her crying. He spends the next two hours in Miriam's company at thehospital, where he finds her in surprisingly good spirits. Despite the argument with Patricia, K2 is in avery good mood when he arrives back home at about eight in the evening. His mood rapidly swingsto one of despair, however, when his mother rings to deliver some very unexpected news - ProfessorBorchmann has died of cancer in hospital earlier in the day. K2 calls Patricia to apologise, but getsthrough only to the maid. The maid reads out a brief message from Patricia in which she asks to beleft alone for a while. The novel ends here, with the outcome of the relationship between K2, Patriciaand Miriam still in the balance.12